The Tolkien Reader: Stories, poems, and an essay by the author of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” J. R. R. Tolkien

6W J. R. R. Tolkien. New York: Ballantine Books, 1966. First Edition Thus.

Notes

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Tolkien Reader, first published in New York by Ballantine Books in September 1966, stands as a seminal, authoritative anthology that famously introduced American readers to the author's broader literary, academic, and philosophical genius outside of his core novels. Released at the absolute zenith of the 1960s campus Tolkien craze to combat unauthorized paperback piracy, this curated volume compiles several of the professor's scarcer, hard-to-find shorter works into a single accessible compendium. The collection includes the multi-part Tree and Leaf—which features his foundational, revolutionary academic essay "On Fairy-Stories" alongside the deeply moving, allegorical short story "Leaf by Niggle"—the mock-medieval dragon fable Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, a whimsical selection of verse expanding upon the lore of Middle-earth. It also contains his lesser-known historical verse play The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son and an introductory essay titled "Tolkien's Magic Ring" penned by acclaimed fantasy author Peter S. Beagle.

Description 

Crisp paperback. Some creasing to spine. First printing featuring publisher code U7038 and 95¢ original price on upper cover. Vibrant wrap-around cover art executed by illustrator Barbara Remington alongside interior decorations by Pauline Baynes.